The Head of the DEA is arrested for murder in connection with the raid at the Sunflower Society building. Aramaki orders Section 9 to go through all of the facility's records to determine who are the remaining members of the Narcotics Suppression Squad. As Aramaki leaves the building he shares an elevator ride with former prime minister Kanzaki, who privately discloses that the prime suspect "pulling the strings" has a lot of friends in high places and strong connections to the navy. Elsewhere, the remaining members of the Narcotic Suppression Squad attempt to frame Aramaki with drug trafficking, concocting a story about his homeless brother to lure him to the refugee district and arrest him, but their plan fails when Batou rescues the chief before the police arrive on the scene. Meanwhile, Kusanagi seeks to repair her prosthetic body after incurring severe damage in a battle against the government's latest prototype power armor. Her plan is to perform a simple body swap, but the doctor in charge of the procedure is in reality an NSS agent intent on killing her by erasing her ghost. However, before Kusanagi is killed, the Laughing Man arrives, ghost-hacking the assassin and completing the Major's body swap, allowing her to subdue the assassin herself after he leaves.